The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1887-12-30
The READING STRIKE.

The Freight blockade Lifted Through a
Misunderstanding of Labor Re-
turn to Work in the Relief That the
Differences with the Road VIII BE Ar
bitrated-The Company Refuses to Arbi-
trate and Claims 1t Has Never Agreed
TO Do So-AnotIer Tie=Up Threatened
as a Result.
! READING, Pa, Dec. 2S.-''The strike is
settled" These were the words which
came over the wires into the general offices
Of the Reading Railroad Company in this
city at 3 o'clock yesterday morning, and
| there was rejoicing all along the company's
line in consequence.
Before daylight the members of every
Knight of Labor assembly on Reading
railroad territory were notified to go to
work, and there was an air of activity
about the entire railroad which has not
been noticed for week The Philadels
phia & Reading headquarters here
presented an animated scene. Hun
dreds of non-union men were on hand ea-
gerly waiting to be called by Reading Off
Gals in case their services should be want
ed Some had previously been employed
on the road, while others were mex
perienced Among the number We're
men who belonged to the Brother
hood of Locomotive Engineers, but
who had lost their positions in the
disastrous strike of 1877, and who are at
| present engaged in other industries. They,
too, were waiting summons but their
services were not needed It was nearly
noon when several score of engines were
| gotten out of the round-houses, at Potts
VILE Reading Pottstown and other
1N1o 10
to move the side-tracked coal
trains to Port Richmond The ears between
Reading and Philadelphia were first moved,
These contain 20, 900 tons of coal, and will
be dumped on the coal wharves at once.
Freight trains were started earlier in the
forenoon The business community of the
entire Schuylkill valley rejoices in the set
tlement of the strike
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 2S.-The Executive
Committee of the Reading Employees As
sembly early yesterday morning, after d
secret session which lasted several hours,
decided to lift the great strike on the
Reading system pending arbitration with
the company.
The leaders in the strike asserted that
General Superintendent Sweigard of the
Reading road had consented to the propo-
MED, and to make the denial more sweep
| ing General Manager Mcleod sent out the
| following notice:
1.-THE report that the Reading Company had
agreed to arbitrate with its striking employees
is absolutely false There is nothing to dis
cuss, much less to arbitrate. The men dis
charged were not and will not be taken
back. The new men employed when the
old ones went out will not be discharged tC
make room for old ones, and all the
latter have been notified that If they
desire to retain their places they must
return to work Immediately and unconditiOn
ally, and all have returned under that order SC
far as places were left for them. Besides, the
leaders at Port Richmond, who brought on the
| strike, have been discharged and will not be
allowed again in the company's service"
| PoTTsvLLE, Pa Dec GA committee
sent to Philadelphia to confer with Super
intendent Sweigard in reference to the re-
sumption of the strikers, returned to this
city last evening, and reported that Mr..
Sweigard had insisted upon the peremptory
discharge of the committee who first waited
upon him in reference to the Port Richmond
trouble, together with the five crews who
refused to handle the flour cars. The com
mittee consented to this, and then asked 6
guarantee that all other strikers would be
re-employed. This Superintendent Swell
gard refused and the conference abruptly
terminated This report greatly incensed
the meeting and as a result committees left
here last night for all points south as far as
Philadelphia and north to Tamaqua, Shame
kin and Mahanoy Plane, to appeal
to the local assemblies to stand by the dis
charged strikers, and it is expected that a
general tie-up along the whole line will be
reinaugnrated to-day. A meeting of the
Reading employees convention, composed
of representatives of railroad employees and
miners at the Reading Coal & Iron Com
pany's collieries, will assemble in Reading on
Thursday, at which it is intimated by leading
Knights of Labor here, that unless a settle
ment is reached the miners will be ordered
to srike, and the passenger train crews be
called out Intense interest is felt here in
the developments of this morning, but there
are many who are disinclined to believe
that the Knights along the line who have
been re-employed will consent to strike
again
In an interview with an Inquirer reporter
last night a Knight of Labor said the strike
on the Reading road was forced by the
Reading management as part of an organ
lied plan of the Pennsylvania, Reading and
Jersey Central roads to break up the
Knights of Labor.
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 2S.-The following
circular was issued from the office of the
Reading Company yesterday afternoon.
| PHILADELPHIA, Dec. Ed. A. Mcleod,
| Esq, General M ager-Dear Sir: The strike or
dered from Port Richmond has developed the
fact that many of our old and faithful
employees have been compelled by others
to join the organization known as
the Knights of Labor. While the Read.
ing Railroad Company has never objected to
its employees voluntarily connecting them
selves with any labor organization they may
see fit to join, it will protect them at all haz-
ards and at any cost from being forced into any
union where their own wish would be to re-
main free; and any employee of this company, or
OF the coal and iron company, guilty of using
any undue or improper influence upon any
OF our men to force them to join any So
ciety against their free will, will, upon proof
furnished US, be dismissed from our service and
never be allowed to return to it, and any en-
ploye furnishing such information will be fully
protected from any harm by reason thereof
Please give this notice to the general superin-
tendent, with orders that it be repeated to the
hands of every department of the railroad and
coal and iron company"
Pottsville dispatch says there was great
excitement at the headquarters of the Ex-
ecutive Committee when the statement of
President Corbin and the receivers became
public. Members of the committee de-
clared that they had been induced to return
to work on false pretenses, and that the
company had been trying for some time to
precip'tate conflict with the Knights
Messages were sent to different assemblies
to convene at once to consider the matter.
The strike has developed the existence of
an unpleasant sentiment between the
Knights of Labor and the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers.
"A little girl came home from her